


Flicker

by schmicooo



Category: Grey's Anatomy
Genre: Boys In Love, Falling In Love, Fluff, M/M, Mutual Pining, Slow Burn, Smut Eventually, i love nico and schmitt so much
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-13
Updated: 2018-12-24
Packaged: 2019-09-17 10:52:35
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 19,352
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16973235
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/schmicooo/pseuds/schmicooo
Summary: Levi was fine up until he made eye contact with Nico Kim and realized maybe he wasn't quite fine after all.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> i havent written a fic in a while but nico and levi's relationship in the show begged me to. it somewhat follows what happens in the show but not really. enjoy.
> 
> (first chapter is little short but i promise they will get longer)

Levi didn’t think he could be so screwed over with one look. But one look into his eyes and he was gone. It’s always like he was swimming in them and he just couldn’t find his way out.

“Schmitt? Schmittttt. SCHMITT!”

“Huh?! What?” Levi says louder than necessary, swiveling around to look at Taryn. She is laughing at him at this point and he can feel his cheeks go hot.

“Stop harassing the ortho fellow with your eyes.” She says giggling again.

“What?! I- I wasn’t. I was just- I was um just spacing out and happened to be looking in that direction. Yeah. I was just spacing out.” He said, hoping his voice came out strong and confident the way he intended.

But he knew that Taryn knew him better than that. He could see it in her eyes that she did not a believe a word that came of his mouth.

She opened her mouth to call him out on it but Dr. Meredith Grey walks by and thrusts the tablet at her.

“We have a new patient, lets go Helm.” She states and begins walking towards the elevators with Taryn scrambling to keep up. He laughs. She was so gone for Meredith Grey.

If he could tell anyone about his new found crush on Dr.Kim, the ortho fellow, he would tell Taryn because he knew he could easily spill it to her and she wouldn’t judge him for a split second. But right now, Levi just wanted to keep this new found realization to himself.

He knew for a while that it was a huge possibility that he was gay, or at least bi. For as long as he remembered he looked at girls and didn’t feel an attraction towards them. Sure, girls were pretty and great and they smelled nice but he just didn’t feel anything towards them. He could count the number of his experiences with the opposite sex on one hand and not once did he feel anything towards them while it was happening. Sure, he had a few flings back in college somehow but looking back now, he knew he was trying to fill some kind of void. He always thought that maybe people were over-exaggerating when they talked about sex because his experiences at best could be summed up as “meh”. But maybe that wasn’t the issue.

Levi shook his head. He was at work, and couldn’t start spiraling into his thoughts now. He needed to focus. Almost as if the universe knew, his pager went off.  
Looking at it, it read, “TRAUMA. ALL AVAILABLE DOCTORS NEEDED AT THE ER”

“Oh man” he thought, “I hope this is good.” And with that, he begins running towards where he knew the emergency room is located.

 

He enters and see’s the room a mess. Owen is yelling orders and multiple gurneys are coming through the ambulance bay doors and going into their respective trauma rooms.

He briefly catches Dr.Hunt’s eye.

“Schmitt! You’re with me.” He says immediately. Levi follows him into trauma 2 without hesitant. He can see that Dr.Hunt is beginning a routine exam but looking down, he can see the patient’s bone popping out of her skin slightly. “Oh no” he says and feels his stomach start to churn. 

Levi loved medicine, he thought the human body was fascinating but sometimes his stomach was not on the same page as him.

“Deep breaths” he says quietly to himself and immediately begins to palpate near the bone gently to see if he can feel a dorsalis pedis pulse.

The trauma room is hectic, with orders being called out, and drugs being administered. Levi was doing his best to remain calm and focus on the task at hand.  
“Where the hell is ortho?! You paged them, right?!” Dr.Hunt nearly yells at a nurse. Before she can as much nod her head to indicate yes Levi feels the cool breeze of the door opening and looks up into the eyes of none other than Dr.Kim and Dr.Link as they step in.

“We were paged? What do we got?” Dr.Link asks. Levi is so caught up in staring at Dr.Kim, who isn’t even looking at him that he almost doesn’t hear the question. Man. He was so screwed.

“Uh 25 year old female…” and starts reciting the patient’s history to Dr.Link who is listening intently while examining the lower extremity.

“Yeah, this is going to need an OR. Someone book an OR and tell them we are coming down now.” Link says this with such force and confidence while remaining gentle that Levi just doesn’t understand someone who could do both so well at the same time.

He feels Link turn and address him.

“Schmitt, you’re scrubbing in with me and Nico. We could use all the help we could get and this is a really interesting fracture you’re not going to want to miss.” Levi smiles. He loves working on ortho, it’s one of his top interests and the fact that he gets to work aside Link and of course Dr.Kim for the next few hours is an added bonus.  
He sneaks a look at Dr.Kim when he sees that he’s already being looked at. Before he can quickly glance away, he see’s the wink that started this all. The wink that made him question everything, directed at him once again and he knows his cheeks are red. This was going to be a looong surgery.

\--------------

He’s standing next to Link and Nico at the scrub sink, scrubbing out after a long and gruesome 6 hour surgery. The fracture was worse than anticipated and more work needed to be done. But Link was right, the fracture was nothing like he had ever seen before. The bone was shattered in so many pieces he couldn’t believe that the bone will eventually heal and return to normal function and range of motion. He was so glad to have such an amazing learning opportunity and it reminded him of why he loved his job so much.

Link finishes scrubbing out and is the first to leave the room. This leaves Nico and Schmitt awkwardly scrubbing out by themselves. Levi wants to say something, anything, but he doesn’t trust his voice to not give out on him. This is what happens whenever Nico is around. Its like he loses brain function, and words don’t come as easily. And he can’t help it. He wish he didn’t make a fool of himself every time he spoke around Nico but he just couldn’t help it. The man did things to him and sent his thoughts a whirl. 

Before he could be trapped too far into his head, Nico clears his throat and says, “good job in there. You did well.”

Levi is gob smacked. He is used to being criticized by his superiors, not praised for a job well done. Not that he minded, but saying “good job” just wasn’t as heard around here that often. He isn’t even sure what to say to that.

“Uh- um thank you.” He says sheepishly, looking away. He can feels Nico’s eye burning into the side of his skull and he is afraid to look back over at him.

“Really, I mean it.” And with that final word, Nico walks to pat his hands dry, and walks out of the OR.

Levi let's out the deep breath he didn’t know he had been holding, because damn, that man is going to be the end of him. He sees the back of his head retreat further away in the small window etched into the door and is reminded on how much he loves his job, especially when it means he gets to be near Nico.

Levi is done for the day. He should have been off an hour ago but because of the surgery that didn’t happen. He is exhausted. All he wants to do is get out of these blue scrubs, put on a sweater, and go to sleep.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> things more further along :)

To say that Levi was exhausted was an understatement. He had the worst nights sleep he has had in a while and it was all thanks to Nico.

Not like that. Levi just couldn’t stop thinking about him. For most of the night he would be swinging from being half awake to half asleep, having nightmares about Nico calling him disgusting for thinking that he could ever like him. He doesn’t know what’s wrong with him. He was always unadmittedly doubting himself, if even just a little and he just can’t see Nico liking him like that. Ever.

He sighs heavily and leans back to press his body weight onto the elevator wall. Looking down, he sighs heavily and closes his eyes. He just needs a minute to himself before he can tackle this 12 hour shift ahead of him.

He hears shuffling near him and just assumes another person got into the elevator with him. He doesn’t care. He just needs to continue to have his eyes closed and take a few more deep breaths to help collect his thoughts. Without noticing, he lets out another heavy sigh.

“Hey, you okay?” he hears someone to his right say. Wait. He knows that voice.

His eyes fly open and he sees Nico standing in front of him and notices that they are the only two in the elevator. “crap” he thinks to himself. This is the last thing he needed. He just needed to relax, take some deep breaths but before him stands the cause of most of his anxiousness.

“Uh- yeah-um doing great really. How about you?”

“Uh, are you sure? You looked like you were about to have a mini breakdown here in this elevator.” Nico says, and gives him a knowing glance. Damn, he didn't know that he was so predictable. 

“Yeah, I’ll be fine. I just didn’t get much sleep…” because I was think about you he wants to say but bites his tongue to keep from doing so.

“I’m sorry. But hey, you can get through this shift.” Nico softly reassures him and smiles. This is exactly what he needed in this movement. This small encouragement might just be what gets him through the day.

The elevator dings, but before Nico gets off on the floor, he quickly grabs and squeezes Levi’s shoulder in assurance before giving him another smile. He quickly leaves and Levi is standing there mouth slightly open, and a tingling, warm sensation left on his arm where Nico’s hand once was.

\---------------- 

Just like any other day, it was hectic at the beginning of his shift. Multiple traumas came in and he was on Dr. Pierce’s service today. Don’t get him wrong, he loved cardiology but it definitely wasn’t his strong point. The fact that he could see and hold a beating human heart in his hands while in surgery still has not settled in.

He gets out of a 8 hour surgery, and realizes his shift is nearly up. Levi thinks, and he cannot remember the last time he ate. His stomach grumbles in agreement, and so he decides to go over to the cafeteria while its still open to grab some food while he has a moment to spare. Knowing how the usually plays out, he wouldn't be surprised if he got paged while standing in the cafeteria line. This happens more than he can count and honestly, he isn't quite sure how he survives as long as he does without food sometimes. 

One of Levi's favorite things to do is to find an open room to eat his lunch (well basically dinner) by himself. It’s the one moment of peace and solitude he often has throughout his shift. And Levi needs these small moments of solitude of he would honestly lose his mind. Walking by an empty x-ray reading room on the third floor, he goes in to eat there. It’s a good of a room as any and he isn't sure how much more energy he has to find another room.

He is so preoccupied with his sandwich, which having been the first thing he ate in about 6 hours, was amazing.

The door suddenly opens and someone walks in. Great, there goes his two minutes of peace and non interaction.

“Oh sorry, I was just eating. I can leave if you need this room.” Levi is already standing and scrambling to gather his stuff so whoever entered can read their x-rays without having to hear him chew. 

“Oh- its you.” He says, blushing when he notices who walked in. It’s Nico.

“Hey. Don’t worry about. You can stay. I just have to look at one x-ray and I’ll be out of your way shortly.” He smiles reassuringly at him.

Levi plops back down, mildly relieved he doesn’t have to leave and find another empty spot. He only has so much time left on his “break”. 

Nico is humming to himself quietly as he is examining x-rays of a femur and Levi would be lying if he said it wasn't endearing and didn't make his heart beat a little faster than normal. As quickly as promised, he tears the x-rays down and tucks them away under his arm. Levi can’t help but to feel a little disappointed that their encounter will be ending so quickly. 

Its almost as Nico has sensed his disappointment because he plops down on the couch that is directly across the arm chair Levi is currently sitting in, his sandwich long forgotten.  
Levi doesn’t know where to look, he can’t look at Nico but he feels looking anywhere else would be just as awkward. He decides to just make eye contact and see’s that Nico is already intently looking at him.

“So, are you coming out for drinks tonight?” Nico asks him casually. Immediately Levi's gears start churning and falls into his bad habit of overthinking. 

“I wasn’t planning on it.” Because honestly, Levi wasn't. He likes the occasional drink out with his friends but none of them had made plans to go out to Joe's later today. And Levi was just no confident enough to go out there by himself.

“Why not? Do you have a hot date?” 

Wait what?! Did Nico seriously just ask him that? He is baffled beyond belief and looks over at him only to find he is already looking back at Levi expectantly, waiting for an answer.

He scoffs “No.” and can't help but let out a small laugh following that.

“Do you have a boyfriend?” Nico presses further. Again, Levi is at a loss for words. He never thought this is something that Nico would ever ask him. Why was asking if he had a boyfriend not a girlfriend? As far as he knew, know one besides maybe Taryn knew or sensed that Levi might be into guys. Where was this coming from?

“Uh no, I don’t, does it seem like I do?” There is silence between the two before Levi summons the courage to speak again after his question remains unanswered. “Do you?” he says almost quiet enough that Nico barely catches it.

Now its Nico’s turn to laugh and scoff.

“No. You know its my fellowship year. It can be tough to have a relationship right now... Not that I wouldn’t be open to something, you know, if that opportunity presented itself." It amazes Levi how casually he can talk about this with him. If Levi were to try to bring this up he would stutter and give up half way through. He isn’t sure what else to say. There is so much he would ask him like how long has know he liked guys, did he like him? But Levi was much too scared to even bring that up to him. 

“Cool. Very cool” he says lamely and silently scolds himself for not coming up with something better.

“Anyway, I better get going back. But seriously, if you don’t have plans tonight you should join us at Joe’s. A few of us will be there.” 

“Alright, I’ll think about it.” He replies and Nico stands to leave, a smile hanging on both of their faces. 

\------

Levi’s shift is finally coming to an end. Thankfully this time he gets to permission to leave a little early as their patient is stable and sleeping. This is a rare occurrence. Usually he is almost always late off his shift but this was a moment he is going to cherish. This day started off terribly but quickly became one of his favorite shifts in the last week and that may or may not be due to the conversation he had with Nico earlier.

He is seriously considering going to Joe’s tonight. For once he isn’t feeling too tired. His body is running off such little sleep its almost as if that is giving him energy. And the prospect of seeing Nico again tonight is adding to his adrenaline. But, the last thing he wants to do is go to Joe’s alone. 

Walking into the locker room, he fully expects to be there by himself but sees Casey and Taryn changing out of their scrubs and into their street clothes.

“Wait, you guys are off too?” he asks them.

“Yeah. We were thinking about heading to Joe’s for a bit.” Casey replies and Levi beams. If this isn’t a sign from the universe that he should get his ass to Joe’s then he doesn’t know what is.

“Cool, I’ll join you” and begins to change, excited to see Nico again tonight.

The three of them slowly make their way to the bar across the street. Happy, and ready to let loose for another shift. Levi doesn’t work tomorrow and he is excited to spend his day sleeping. And he won’t admit to it but he excited to hang out with his friends tonight. They sadly don’t get these moments often.

Upon entering the bar, it is a bit crowded and Levi quickly remembers that is in fact a Friday night. He recognizes a few people from work and sends them casual smiles.

The three of them manage to find a seat at the bar and begin to take off their layers. Though it was raining and windy outside, the bar was nice and toasty.

“Hey guys!” Joe greets them and reaches for three beers, already knowing exactly what the three interns would order.

They smile and start a casual conversation with Joe. Levi is barely listening and uses this opportunity to scan the room looking for one person and one person only, Nico. He spots him near Link and Jo who are all laughing at something Link said. 

He smiles and wishes he could join them but knows he isn’t brave enough to do that. Beside, he would feel a little guilty leaving his friends behind.

They slowly catch up, mostly talking about work and all the cool cases they saw today. Casey is in the middle of story about his surgery that happened this morning when Levi feels a nudge on his right arm. He turns, and is met with Nico’s face.

“Hey! You made it!”

“Yeah, I decided to come after all” he replies sheepishly and looks back at Casey and Taryn who are too absorbed into their conversation to even notice him talking to Nico. This relieves some pressure off his shoulders, to not have an audience. 

Levi zones out bit longer than intended and comes back to reality when he realizes Nico is holding a beer out towards him.

He looks at his questioningly. 

“Take it- it’s on me." " Uh, are you sure? I can pay" he says, already reaching for his wallet. Nico put's his hand on top of his to stop him. His hand is warm and wow, Levi almost forgets to breath. He cannot believe one small touch can have a such a big effect on him and his body. "It's fine. You can buy me one next time” Nico says and winks, leaving Levi with his mouth slightly open before it relaxes into a deep smile.

He looks over at Taryn and Casey who are looking at him as if he suddenly sprouted three heads.

“What the hell was that?!” Taryn is the first to exclaim.

“Shhh, he can heart you!” Levi quickly quiets her and sneaks a peek to make sure Nico didn’t hear her. But he is too preoccupied at laughing at another one of Link’s jokes.

“He just came over here and gave me a beer. I don’t know, okay?!” he says, gesturing to the beer.

“Dude. He so like you.” Casey says and Levi immediately reddens.

“No he doesn’t. He’s just being nice.”

“Oh yeah? Then why didn’t we get a free beer?” Levi doesn’t know how to reply to that so he stays silent.

“Exactly” Casey states and smirks at him. “If I were you, I would climb that like a tree” he says and barks out laughing. Taryn is quick to join him and nods her head enthusiastically

“Me too.” She says.

At this point Levi is mortified and a little sadden that his and Nico’s “relationship” is known by outsider. If it were up to him he would have kept it quiet for a little longer.

The rest of the evening is met with smalls jokes about the Nico and Levi encounter but he knows his friends are doing it out of love and he has to admit, if it were one of them in his situation, he would do the exact same thing.

Before they know it, its later than either of them expected. The bar has cleared out a bit since they came in.

“I think its time to call it a night guys” Casey says, stifling a yawn.

“Year I agree. I’m on again at 0700”

“Taryn! You’re barely going to get any sleep” Levi quickly scolds but she laughs at him.

“It’s okay. I would give up a few hours of sleep to hang out with you guys.” She says and pulls them both in for a hug. Levi is once again grateful to have clicked to well with his fellow interns.  
They begin to bundle up again, readying themselves to head into the cold when Levi’s elbow is caught by someone’s hand.

“Hey, you heading out?” Its Nico. Of course its Nico! Who else would it be?

“Yeah, I’m ready to sleep for the next 24 hours.”

“Oh- do you not work tomorrow?” and if Levi didn’t know any better, he would say he heard some disappointment arise in Nico’s voice.

“Yeah. Finally get a day off.” Levi replies, unsure of what else to say.

“Well, goodnight them” and Nico smiles at him before heading back over to his table.

“Goodnight” he calls softly after him.

He turns and sees the look on his friend’s faces.

“Don’t.” he says and they burst out laughing while Levi can’t help but smile along with them. 

He finally reaches his one bedroom apartment collapses on his couch, to tried to get up and get undressed. He is slowly falling asleep, thinking about none other than Nico Kim.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yall im trying to go into the medical field so im doing my best with the medical terminology bit


	3. Chapter 3

Levi was lucky enough to have spent his entire day off yesterday dedicated to sleep and sleep alone. He doesn't remember the last time he woke up and actually felt rested.

Another day, another shift but after everything that has been going on between him and Nico these past couple of days he is excited to see what today has to offer.

Fortunately for him as he makes eye contact with Dr.Bailey she immediately says, "Schmitt. You're on ortho today."

Levi has to stifle a smile because he knows she would see it and begin to question him immediately. 

After being told that Link is in the ED, he begins to head over there.

Walking in, the place isn't as quite of a mess as it normally is and for once the ED comforts him.

Dr.Link is a the bedside of possibly the cutest little girl he has every seen. Her brown hair up in pigtails and eye bright even though her mother stands next to her looking concerned. 

Levi is sad to admit that his heart immediately falters a little once he realizes the Nico is not there as well.

"Good morning" Levi says, walking over towards them and addressing the patient’s mother and Link.

"And good morning to you sunshine. What seems to have happened?" he asks the little girl who is smiling brightly at him.

Giggling she says, "You're cute" before launching into story of how she fell off her top bunk and landed on her arm this morning. 

Levi of course blushes at the first comment she makes also immediately but continues to listen to her chatter away. 

"Yeah he is cute, isn't he?" he hears a voice say behind him laughing. Nico.

Link and Schmitt both look at him as if he's slightly lost his mind but Nico has already turned his attention to the little girl showing her the pink wrap he brought to cover her cast with.

He didn't think that the little girls eyes could get brighter than they already are. But, it seems that Nico had that effect on people other than just himself. He is the person who radiates positive energy and that has a way of drawing people in.

Link has moved aside with the mother, explaining to her that the fracture wasn't too bad and in a few weeks once the cast is off, her daughter’s arm will be good as new.

Levi uses this moment to stand there and observe how good Nico is with the little girl. They are giggling to themselves and Levi starts to pay a little more attention when he heads his name being exchanged the two them.

The girl looks up at Levi and says "yeah I definitely agree" back in response to whatever Nico had said.

What? Were they talking about him? He knows his face reflects the confusion he feels when Nico laughs and says "don't worry about it Schmitt" and winks. This sends the little girl into another fit of giggles.

All Levi can do is shake his head in admiration and smile. Damn, if Nico is this cute with a little girl he didn’t know then Levi cannot possibly imagine how good of a father he could be. He knows that he that would kind and caring, and he feels his stomach churn in response to this thought. 

Before he can get too caught up in his fantasy about having and raising a child with Nico he hears Link clear his throat.

"Alright well you two can finish up here while I head over to talk to our patient again before surgery. I heard she had a few questions come up that I need to speak to her about.” With this, Link hands Schmitt the tablet with the patient’s chart open on it. He guesses he’s scrubbing in on another surgery with them today.

Seeing that Nico has the cast handled, he walks away, still reading the tablet trying to get caught up on his new patient’s case. Before he realizes, he’s walking into another solid object, another human to be more specific. 

Mumbling an apology, a blush on his face due to embarrassment, he beelines towards the nurses station to keep from running into more people.

\-------------

They were about 4 hours into the surgery and Levi is observing Dr. Link’s and Dr. Kim’s hands at work. Unfortunately for him, this was a surgery that a lot of people were there to observe so he wasn’t actually doing anything aside from watching. He didn’t seem to mind though as this was a great excuse to steal glances at Nico every once in a while without being too conspicuous. 

He isn’t sure how much more there is to go and starts to zone out. Too bad for him that he happened to zone out while looking at Nico’s face.

Dr. Link clears his throat which suddenly wakes Levi from his daydream and he refocuses on what’s in front of him. Thankfully, no one seemed to notice that he spaced out and he scolds himself for doing that while in a surgery that was an opportunity for him to learn.

He casts another quick glance at Nico, thinking it would go unnoticed as did his other many glances today. But, this time he wasn’t as lucky and catches Nico’s eye. 

They hold their eye contact for almost a beat too long, and Levi feels Nico’s eyes burning into his. Dr. Link is asking him a question but before he redirects his attention away from him, Nico sends Levi a subtle wink.

Now, Levi is the opposite of subtle and unexpectedly inhales deeply, as a sort of gasp, that brings all of the room’s attention on to him.

He looks away, face beat red. He’s starting to think that around Nico this is just always going to be his permanent state.

He builds up the quick courage to look up at Nico to see if he noticed the noise that Levi produced and can see his eye crinkling and though he is wearing a surgical mask, he knows Nico is laughing at him.

For the rest of the surgery, his main goal is to get out of their alive without embarrassing himself further. This proves to be a little easier than imagined and finally, the surgery is over a gruesome two hours later.

Levi makes a straight path to the door that will lead his outside of the OR but hears his name being called before he can make his escape.

“Hey- I was going to bring the patient back to her room if you wanted to come? Link said to tell you wants her vitals rechecked hourly.”

“Oh, sure I guess.” He replies, and returns to the bedside of the patient. 

As they are walking towards the patient’s room, where she will spend the next couple of days in recovery, Nico clears his throat.

“You know you still owe me a drink” Nico casually mention.

“Yeah, I guess I do.” He can’t really believe that Nico remembers that and is wondering why he’s mentioning it now.

“Maybe you can pay me back tonight?” Nico says, almost hopefully.

Levi is not sure what to make of this. Is he asking to hang out with him one on one at Joe’s or is this going to be a time where they stay within their own groups, but exchange a drink? Honestly, Levi is a little scared to find out. He doesn’t want to be disappointed.

“Um, uh sorry I actually can’t tonight. I promised I would hang out with Taryn.” And its true, they made plans earlier in the week to catch up.

“Well next time” Nico states confidently.

Why the hell Nico wants the get drinks with Levi is beyond him. Unable to contemplate this further as they have reached the room, Levi busies himself with checking and charting the patient’s vitals.

Nico leaves the room and Levi can breath again. What the hell is happening?

\-----  
Him and Taryn are sprawled out on the couch in the apartment she shares with Qadri drinking wine. Levi doesn’t even know how he got here because honestly, he hates wine and would much rather be drinking a beer.

He has been trying to bring up the subject of him and Nico to her for a little over an hour now but every time he almost does, he shy’s away from it. Its not that he thinks Taryn will judge him for it but he just doesn’t know what the say. It’s almost as though he is a little scared to say it out loud, because what if it’s all in his head? What is Nico is like this with the other interns and Levi is just reading too much into it.

Levi could sit there for hours, thinking about Nico and trying to make sense of it all but he knows he needs a second opinion.

This leads him to say, “I like Nico” abruptly and as soon as he says it he wants to retract it. 

Taryn looks at him, shock evident on her face.

“Wait, what!? I knew that whole thing in the bar happened but you actually like him? No offence but I didn’t even know you swung that way.” She says gently, almost as if she’s afraid to say the wrong thing.

“I didn’t know either. Well, I mean I always had an inkling and with Nico….with Nico I don’t just think, I know.” 

Taryn looks at him with encouraging eyes so he easily says, “Its like this- I’ve had a few sexual encounters with the opposite sex before and I’m not saying they were bad but I don’t know, it’s almost like I lived my whole life thinking people were really amping up how good sex was because for me it was just…”meh”. But now…now even with one look that I get from Nico I feel more than I felt the entire time I was with a girl. It’s hard to explain but I know that this isn’t new. I think I was just too afraid to fall into the feeling before, to let myself truly feel an attraction for guys because I was scared of what was to come of it. But with Nico, I’m not scared. I mean I mean scared shitless but with him its different. I don’t know…” he mumbles off.

Taryn is looking at him, her eyes a little watery and he isn’t sure if that the wine and exhaustion or if that’s her reaction to what he just said.

“Levi. Thank you for telling me that. I know exactly what you mean. I’ve been through it myself. I really had to process what I felt and now that I’ve accepted those feeling, that part of myself, I am so happy. And I hope you can do that same thing.”

Levi smiles at her and reaches across the squeeze her hand. He didn’t foresee the evening conversation getting so deep but he is happy to have a friend like Taryn who knows where he’s coming from.

“Its just, I don’t even know it he likes me. Sure he flirts with me, signals are being given off but its like I’m too scared to believe them. What if he acts like that with everyone? What if it’s all in my head?”

She laughs at him lightly, “I can assure you, he is not like that with anyone else. I see the way he looks at you when you aren’t paying attention. I think the feeling is mutual.”

Hearing another person says this lights up Levi’s face. Surely if someone else sees it then it couldn’t all be in his head, right. Just as quickly as he was encouraged, his doubt comes back.

He’s chewing on his lips so hard in thought he begins to taste blood.

“Listen, I know I don’t have all the answers but this is going really good so far! I think you should just continue to see where it goes. And stop doubting yourself! It’s written all over your face.”

Levi smiles at her, she knew he well enough to know his thoughts are racing, and not in a good way.

“Thanks… I guess only time will tell, huh? Because there is no way in hell that I’m making the first move.” He says laughing.

Taryn reaches across the couch suddenly to hug him.

“Honestly, thanks again for tell me about this and you better keep me updated!” and with that, the conversation moves on to talking about a surgery she had with Meredith Grey this morning and Nico is forgotten. Levi is happy to just laugh and catch up with his friend.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> bit of a sadder chapter

Taryn and Levi are stuck in the ED. There weren’t that many traumas coming in today and things have been moving slowly along. Levi just wishes it was the end of his shift already but he knows he has a few more hours to go. Thankfully, after yesterday’s talk with Taryn, she has been incredibly supportive of him and their friendship seems to have been bumped up to the next level.  


Levi is walking away from a patient after checking their vital signs and recording them when he bumps straight into a hard chest. He glances up, apology ready at his lips. He really needs to stop walking and charting.

But, as quickly as his apology began to come out, he stops. The person he just ran into was none other than Nico.

He noticed that Nico’s hands are on both sides of his upper arms, keeping him stabilized and from crashing down on the ground. That would be the last thing he needs.

“You okay?” Nico asks him. He seems to ask him this nearly every time they interact.

“Yeah, but shouldn’t I be asking you that? I am after all the one who bumped into you” he says laughing, and thankfully Nico laughs along with him. Man, he could listen to that laugh for the rest of his days.

“Yeah, I guess you did. Hey, while I have you here I was wondering if you were up for getting me that drink at Joes tonight? I mean you did just bump into me so you kind of owe me” he says laughing.

Levi is red in the face, and mostly surprised this is the second time Nico is bringing up the drink thing. Maybe he just really wants to be payed back for the beer he gave him?

“Yeah, alright, what time do you get off?” he says, surprising both himself and Nico with having agreed to this event so easily.

“8, you?”

“8:30”

“Perfect, see you at Joes” Nico says walking away.

Before Levi can process what the hell just happened he hears his voice again, “and watch where you’re going” Nico shouts, look back at him behind his shoulder, laughing down the hall.

Levi can’t help but laugh to himself at the encounter that just happened. Taryn is quick to run over to him as soon as Nico rounds the corner.

“What was that? Did I just hear him ask you out and you agreeing?!??” 

“He didn’t ask me out! He just asked me to get him a beer tonight. I mean I do owe him. This isn’t a date Taryn!” He is defensive because he just can’t afford to get his hopes up. 

“He asked you out for drinks. Plain and simple as that, so yes, that is a date! At least in my book” she sings out the last part and does some weird shimmy in celebration.

Levi allows himself to hope for a moment, just a moment that maybe Taryn was right, maybe this is a date after all. As quickly as that thought enters, he shakes his head.

“You’re crazy. And you better be coming with me to Joe’s tonight! There is no way in hell am I dealing with this alone.”

“I’m in, meet you in the locker room!” she yells happily before walking away to actually get some work done. 

\------------

It’s the end of his shift, and Taryn has already let Levi know she is running a bit behind. So he finds himself in the locker room alone. 

This day has been so busy for him that he almost forgot that he was going out for drinks with Nico today at the bar. Thankfully for him, he keeps some nice clothing stashed in his locker. For what reason he isn’t sure but he sure is glad to have a nice sweater, button up, and jeans when he knows that he will be seeing Nico today outside of the hospital. He can’t help but want to put in a little more effort than he normally does.

He is deciding between what sweater he wants to throw on top of his button down when the door to enter the locker room enters. He is fully expecting Taryn to come and yell at him to hurry so he calls out, “you’re late!” and turns around not seeing Taryn after all. Its Nico. 

“Sweet! You guys have showers” Nico says, ignoring what Levi just yelled.

“Fellows have a lounge room on 3” and before he can register what is happening, Nico is taking off his scrub top, revealing a nice set of abs underneath it.

Levi isn’t even sure what to say, how to process what the hell is happening right now. All he knows is that Nico Kim is standing shirtless before him and Levi has to use every bit of ounce of strength he has to look away and not stare. He does not want to imagine how the conversation would go if Nico caught him staring. Instead, he focuses on his face. Nico is standing there, looking at Levi with a small smirk etched on his face. His eyes are sparkling and in that moment Levi knows that Nico is aware that he caught him off guard.

Levi is hot. His face has never felt as warm and as red as it does in this moment. He turns back to his sweater, not bearing to look at the body of Nico Kim.

Don’t get him wrong, from what he saw, he knows that Nico’s pecs and abs are well defined but not so much so that its obnoxious. He can tell that Nico takes care of himself and boy does it show. His skin looks smooth and he can only imagine what it would be like to place his hands on his stomach. 

Levi stops his thought before he can get too far ahead of himself. After all, he can hear Nico shuffling towards the showers behind him and the last thing he needs is to sprout a boner in his presence. He takes his clothes, changes quickly and runs out of the door at lightning speed. He’s sure Taryn will understand why he isn’t meeting her in the locker room as agreed on after he tells her this story.  
He isn’t even sure that she will believe him.

He decides to go wait in the lobby of the hospital, texting her to let her know where he was. Taryn meets him a short 10 minutes later, dressed and ready to go.

“Hey, want to explain why we are meeting here and not the locker room?”

Levi is already red thinking about the moment they shared. Taryn looks at him expectantly, raising her eyebrows up at him. 

“Lets just say Nico came in, whipped off his shirt and I had to GET OUT OF THERE. He’s body is so…” he trails off, starting to day dream of what happened.

“Wait what?!” she exclaims so loud she gets the attention of a few people around them “are you telling me you saw Nico Kim shirtless?” her mouth is wide open and bobbing up and down trying to form words, like a fish out of water. “He was not in there when I went in, are you sure you weren’t hallucinating it?!?!” She again yells.

“TARYN! Stop talking so loudly!” he hushes her, “yes he was there, I swear. I told him fellows had a lounge upstairs but its like, its like he didn’t even hear me! And he whipped off his shirt so fast and and and I don’t know okay! I’m just as confused as you are! IM STILL PROCESSING” he whisper yells. 

“Holy shit. I can’t believe this is happening. He must have known you were in there, I mean right?!”

“I don’t know…” he says giving her a ‘stop talking about it’ look. “Look, lets just go to Joe’s.” Oh shit. He had completely forgotten that’s where he was supposed to see Nico. How was he going to see him after that incident? Was that a sign? DID Nico know he was in the locker room?!

Taryn can see the look of panic slowly come onto Levi’s face. “Listen, everything is going to be fine. We are going to go to Joe’s, you’re going to see him, and not mention it okay?! Everything is going to be fine. If he mentions it just…I don’t know, we’ll see!” she says quickly. She doesn’t need Levi to start freaking out about this now. Maybe the whole shirtless thing was a coincidence.

“Okay” he replies after taking two deep breaths, “lets get this over with.”

They made their way to Joe’s. Walking in, they are greeted with pleasant chatter and the familiar smell of pine, somehow it manages to smell like year round.

Levi is quick to spot Nico across the bar with Dr. Webber, Link, and Jo sitting around with Link strumming on his guitar and Dr. Webber quietly singing along. Nico is wearing a maroon long sleeved shirt that clings to his body, especially his arms and Levi still can’t believe he got to see what was underneath that, even if it was for just a split second.

The bell that chimes whenever someone enters grabs the attention of Nico who looks over at him and smiles. Levi is expecting him to come up to him and say something, especially since he kind of invited him here but it doesn’t seem that Nico is getting up any time soon.

He and Taryn share confused looks before realizing they are standing like idiots at the front door and make their way over to the bar.

“I don’t understand, why isn’t he coming over here? Levi asks her. She shrugs, just as confused herself.

“I’m sorry, I don’t know. I may have misread the situation.”

He looks at her with an incredulous look on his face.

“Taryn! You cannot be serious! You can’t just… you can’t just get my hopes up like that.”

“Look, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to. I seriously thought he liked you. I don’t know… maybe he’s just preoccupied? Maybe he didn’t see you?”

“We made eye contact!” he whisper yells. He can’t help but feel a little foolish. Here he was thinking he actually stood a chance with ortho god, Nico Kim. He sinks further into his seat, slowly letting himself sit in the self-pity. He is torn between thinking it’s okay to feel sorry for himself and between scolding himself for being so stupid. Nico was just being nice, he probably did that with the other interns. He couldn’t believe that he fell for it. 

Three beers later, Nico has still not come up to Taryn and him and with every passing moment Levi feels more and more disappointed. Him and Taryn make light conversation, and soon he feels the familiar buzz of alcohol in his system and that makes it a little easier to bear the sadness and disappointment he is feeling right now.

“Hey, glad you made it.” He hears to his right. Its Nico. Levi is almost annoyed that he is speaking to him right now. He sat here for nearly two hours and not a single time did Nico come over here! He can’t help but feel a little bit of anger, he feels like Nico is leading him on.

“Hey.” He says simply, not really wanting the conversation to continue.

“You okay?”

“Great.” He says quickly.

“Look, Taryn and I were actually just about to go. So… um goodnight” he shoots Taryn a look that says ‘lets get the hell out of here’ and thankfully she hops off the bar stool, links arms with Levi, and walks out the door with him. Neither of them look back and Nico is left standing there confused. 

Taryn isn’t sure what to do in this situation. She has never seen Levi so sad. He was usually the one encouraging them and making them happy. She just doesn’t know how to handle this situation.

She stops them from walking and pulls Levi aside to a bench.

“Look, I can’t tell you how sorry I am.”

“Its… it’s ok.” He says softly, knowing deep down that it was not ok. “I just… I’m just so MAD at myself for being so hurt by this. We hadn’t even established anything we haven’t even-“ he scoffs, “kissed. It’s just been a couple of flirty moments. He doesn’t owe me anything!! Why do I care so much!??” he yells out.

Taryn sits there quietly, unsure of what to say, rubbing his arm up and down in a comforting manner.

“I just want to go home, curl up in bed and not talk to or about him for a while. I know we didn’t even date but I can’t help but feel a little brokenhearted.” Immediately Levi was imaging the worst, that Nico didn’t like him, that he never would.

“Alright let’s get you home.” And with that, they sat in silence waiting in the cold air for a cab to come get them and take them back to their respective homes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> please leave a comment or kudos if you're enjoying so far :)


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> you better strap in because unfortunately its about to get sadder before it gets better. sorry but enjoy!

Levi had spent most of his day off yesterday feeling bad about the whole Nico situation. While in the midst of it, he promised himself he would stop feeling bad and get over it. He didn’t need Nico, and it was time to move on.

Today was a fresh start to do so. Though Levi was nervous to see Nico again, he promised himself whatever happened would not affect him as hard as it did before. Levi wanted to be happy and if Nico kept leading him on and making him sad then maybe he wasn’t the person for Levi after all.

He was looking forward to today’s shift to take his mind off of things until Dr. Bailey said the words he was hoping he would not hear, “Schmitt, you’re on ortho today.”

Great. Maybe this shift is going to be hell after all. Why do these things always happen to him?! 

Taryn shoots him a sad look, she knows being on ortho is the last thing Levi wanted but Levi is determined to not let this get to him.

He starts towards the patient’s room he knows he is going to have today and stepping in he already sees Dr. Link and Dr. Kim standing at the bedside talking to her.

Thankfully, on his way over here he was able to quickly review the chart and catch up on the basics (without bumping into anyone).

Dr. Link shoots him a smile as he steps into the room.

“There you are! I hope you’re all caught up on the case because the OR should be ready any minute now. I am going to prep, page me if you need me and see you in there!” He says briefly before leaving the room.

Dr. Kim is still at the bedside of the patient, answering some last minute questions while Levi just stares at him.

He wasn’t expecting it to, but it does hurt a little even being in Nico’s presence. He begins to walk away, tired of feeling sad and really needing to read the rest of the chart if he wants to be prepared for the surgery.

“Hey, how are you today?” Nico says, popping up besides him at the nurses station.

“Fine.” Levi replies curtly, no need to drag this conversation further along than needed.

Nico gives him a look he can’t quite place before sighing and walking away, realizing that Levi does not want to talk to him right now.

\----- 

The surgery was awkward to say the least. Nico and Levi had tension that you could cut with a knife and Dr. Link was chatting away, oblivious to it all. Levi even got a few weird looks from the scrub nurses because he’s pretty sure that even they could feel the tension. Thank god that Link was dense sometimes. A great doctor, but dense.

Levi and Nico kept their talking to a minimum, only speaking to each other when absolutely necessarily. This of course was great for Levi but he missed their casual conversation’s throughout the day. He missed chatting to Nico about how he was and little things like that. But he knows he’s just going to have to grow up and get over it.

Thankfully, Levi is able to escape the OR quickly and easily strides towards the elevator. He just needed a small break from Nico right now. He needed to sigh and breath in peace.

As he is waiting for the elevator to reach his floor, Taryn steps in.

“Hey, how is it going so far with the whole… you know?” she asks him cautiously. 

“Honestly, good and bad. It was soooo awkward today in the OR. We only spoke to each other when we needed to and it was just so weird. I cannot wait for this stupid day to be over.”

“Sorry.” She says, unsure of what else she could say right now to make him feel better.

“It’s alright but I swear if I’m on ortho again tomorrow I might just lose my mind” he says.

Taryn gets off at the next stop and gives him an encouraging smile, “you can do this! Only a few more hours to go!” Levi supposes she’s right and he can suck it up and get through it for the rest of the shift.

Thankfully, the shift is not too bad from there on out and his interactions are limited with Nico. It confuses Levi greatly because it seems that whenever he is in Nico’s presence, Nico opens his mouth to say something before closing it and walking away. It was driving Levi crazy, thinking about what he possibly had to say to him that he wasn’t. Was it about last night maybe?

Dr. Link is near the nurses station when Levi walks over to him to see if there was anything else that needed to be done before he headed home.

“No, I think you should be fine. By the way, Nico won’t stop talking about you. I know it’s none of my business but whatever happened last night, just… just talk to him okay? And listen to what he has to say.” Link says this and walks away. “Have a good night Schmitt” he says over his shoulder.

Levi is confused beyond belief. Did he really just hear Link say that Nico talks about him?! To Link of all people?!? What the hell could he possibly say to Link. He is almost afraid to find out. He supposes Link was right, maybe he should just hear what Nico has to say but Levi is stubborn and he sure as hell was not going to go out of his way to ask Nico about it. If he wanted to talk, he knew where he could find Levi.

After changing back into his street clothes, ready to curl up in bed after this long and awkward day, Levi is standing in the elevator, body leaned against the wall in support. 

He has a few more stops to go before reaching the lobby but groans when it stops at another floor. He just wished this stupid elevator would hurry up and get him to where he needed to be, he was antsy to leave this hospital. Ultimately he needed a few hours away from this place.

Nico is the last person Levi wants to see right now but there he is, standing before him in the elevator. The fact that it is just the two of them alone in the elevator is evidently clear to Levi. If it wasn’t awkward enough in the OR today, this sure took its spot.

Nico has a face of relief when he sees that Levi is in the elevator. He stands next to him, not saying a word. Levi rolls his eyes, of course he isn’t going to say anything. If he isn’t, then neither is Levi because two can play at this game.

Without warning Nico hits the button to stall the elevator and turns to look at Levi. This is the last thing he had expected to happen.

“Look, I feel like I owe you an explanation-“

“I-“ Levi starts to say.

“No. Just be quiet and listen please. I know I must have looked like such a jackass yesterday at the bar. Link made that evidently clear to me but I have a good reason for it. It’s just…. I like talking to you okay? I was excited to see again, I was excited to talk to you again that night but. I don’t know….believe it or not I chickened out okay?! I got too caught in my head, overthought too much, and I was afraid I was going to screw this up before it started. I hope you can forgive me.”

Levi is standing there eyes wide open, no words coming out of his mouth because what the hell was he supposed to say to that?!

“Uh-“ he begins but Nico is giving him a look. A look that he cannot place again.

Nico reaches over and grabs his jacket. Looking into his eyes, Levi is so gone. Screw forgetting Nico, if it meant he could stare into his eyes he would take all the hurt in the world for this privilege.

Nico tugs him forward and their lips connect. 

Levi is so stunned at what is happening that his lips don’t move until Nico is nudging him and suddenly this awakens Levi and they start moving in synch. And holy shit this is the best thing Levi has felt in a while. Nico cradles his jaw in his palm and Levi really doesn’t know what he did to deserve this.

Nico tugs him impossibly closer and Levi bravely puts his hands in his hair and tugs, causing a little moan to escape from Nico’s mouth. Holy shit… he just made Nico Kim make that noise! Tightening his fingers in his hair, Levi screws his eyes shut tighter, afraid that if he opened them this moment would flee.

Nico’s hand’s move to his waist and hold his hips firmly. Levi tilts his head, changing the angle of the kiss slightly for a deeper push into each other’s mouth. Nico uses this opportunity to deepen the kiss and gently pushes his tongue into Levi’s mouth, which he receives readily. Fighting for dominance, Levi uses this opportunity to run his hand down Nico’s neck and back and feel the tight muscles underneath his shirt. The kiss is getting so heated and before either of them can come up from air, Nico licks into Levi’s mouth again but slower and he is gone. This is what heaven feels like.  


Nico steps, and pushes Levi against the elevator wall for better access. Levi needs to breath. His brain is screaming for oxygen. Once he is released, Nico’s mouth immediately attacks the underside of his jaw, kissing lower and lower on his neck. Holy shit, nothing has even felt so good in his entire life. 

Finally, their lips connect again. Its slower this time, less rushed and they both feel the emotion they are both pouring into this kiss. They break apart again, foreheads leaning against each other breathing heavily.

“Wow.” Levi says. Its all he can say. Its all the thoughts that his brain can formulate right now.

It’s as though with that one word Nico realizes what just happened and immediately steps away from Levi. Levi’s hips are burning with where his hands once were, immediately missing Nico’s touch.

“I’m sorry. That was abrupt and-“ Nico starts to say before Levi cuts him off.

“It was perfect. I… uh that was my first time. I liked it.” Levi says, shyly and proud of himself for getting through most of the sentence with minimal stuttering. It felt like he one some kind of high right now.

“Wait, that was your first kiss?” Nico asks, confused.

“Um yeah, with a guy.”

“Wow” Nico says quietly, shock evident on his face. Levi is beyond confused. How did they get from kissing to having this conversation?

“I’m sorry. If I had known that I would have never done that.” He says, “you’re cute, and nerdy, and weird and usually that’s my type but I’ve done my coming out already. I can’t go through it again. I can’t teach you how to do this…. I’m sorry.” And with that, he hits the button and elevator is moving again, and Levi is standing in the corner of the elevator absolutely shocked, and hurt, and sad, and feeling SO MANY emotions.

“But I-“ Levi begins to say. But its too late. The elevator dings and Nico is stepping out without a glance behind.

Levi is standing there, alone, and embarrassed and he cannot help the tears that begin to prickle at the corner of his eyes. Nico had basically just said that Levi was not good enough for him.

But Levi, Levi felt SO MUCH during that kiss. More than he ever felt with anyone else he had been with. In that one five minute moment, he felt more than he felt when he was with a girl for entire night. And it was gone, he would never have that moment again because the person he shared it with didn’t want him. Levi would cry but he needs to get out of this hospital before he has his well-deserved breakdown. Having anyone he knows see him sob would possibly be more embarrassing then being rejected by Nico Kim. 

He quickly runs towards his car and starts warming it up. As he sits there, the shock of the situation is beginning to wear off and he starts crying. He can’t help but be mad at himself for not being good enough, a mature enough gay to be with Nico. He knows this isn’t fair to himself but his emotions are all over the place right now. The tears he is shedding run down his cheeks, wetting the collar of his shirt.

He cannot remember the last time he felt this shitty. He realizes he will never have those moments with Nico again with casual conversation, winks, and occasional flirting and he starts to cry harder, mourning the loss of these moments. Damn Nico Kim for breaking his heart a second time when Levi promised himself this wouldn’t happen.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you to everyone who left kudos and for the nice comments! :) i really enjoy reading them and it makes me happy that you are enjoying this fic!


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> the interns are up to something

The frown on Levi’s face was etched in deep, and it was not moving off of his face anytime soon.

Taryn, Dahlia, and Casey were all quick to notice that Levi was not his usual bubbly self this morning and it causes an uneasy feeling to wash over them. All three of them are giving each other glances, debating with their eyes who should bring it up first.

Dr. Bailey walks into the locker room where they are all sat before either of them can question Levi.

“Helm, you’re with Grey. Parker you’re in the pit. Qadri you’re with Pierce. And Levi, you’re on ortho.” She says and walks away.

Levi’s eye are wide and he sighs heavily. Great, another day, another 12 hours of having to be in Nico’s presence. He cannot imagine how awkward this is going to be. 

“Schmitt. I’ll trade with you.” Taryn says. As much as she loves working with Grey, she would give it up so Levi wouldn’t have to see Nico just yet. 

“What?!” Casey and Dahlia both exclaim at the same time.

“You love working with Grey! Last time I asked you to switch when you were on her service you said ‘over my dead body’ and now you’re freely trading with Schmitt to be on ortho!? Spill! What the hell is going on here?” Dahlia says. “And don’t you dare say nothing because Levi no offense but you’ve been pouting all morning.” She gives him an pointed look.

Taryn and Levi sigh, and Levi knows he needs to come clean to his friends. Maybe they can help him avoid Nico if they all knew about it. He takes a quick glance at Taryn and she encouragingly smiles at him, nodding her head.

“Well you see… I like Nico Kim. Well liked, I guess. No…I still very much like him” He says, confused. He knows he’s been hurt twice but he can’t deny his attraction to the man, not to his friends who he knows he can be honest with. 

Casey and Dahlia are looking at him, surprised evident on their faces but stay quiet, waiting for him to continue.

“And… anyway long story short is he bought me a beer once, invited me to get drinks a couple of days ago and when I showed up he ignored me. But that’s not even the best part.” He gulps and takes in a deep breath, he hasn’t even told Taryn about what happened so he knows she’s going to be shocked too, “and then yesterday I was mad and standing in the elevator when he stepped in and… kissed me” 

The three of them gasp in unison.

“WHAT?!” Taryn is first to exclaim. But Levi gives her a pointed glace that says ‘shut up I’m not done talking yet’. And she is quick to be quiet, waiting for what’s the come next. 

“And it was the best thing that I have felt in a while… and… and” he says, feeling the tears prickling in the corner of his eyes “and he said that it was a mistake. That he couldn’t be with me because that was my first kiss with a guy, that I wasn’t experienced enough for him. And then he just… he just left.” And with this, a tear falls down his cheek. He inhales quickly, and rubs his face. He is NOT about to have another breakdown in front of her friends and fellow peers about this.

Taryn, Casey, and Dahlia all look at him with sadness in their eyes.

“I cannot believe he did that to you! OH if I could give him a piece of my mind...” Taryn starts but Levi interruptus. “No. Don’t. Please don’t mention anything to him. Or anyone. I don’t want this to get blown out of proportion. He’s a jackass but lets just forget him.” He says.

“No. He needs to know what he’s missing! No one rejects Schmitt like that and gets away with it.” Dahlia is pacing back and forth, and the three of them can see a plan turning in her head. “We’ll….WE’LL MAKE HIM JEALOUS! Make him realize what an ass he is for giving up Schmitt so easily.” She ends with a grin so mischievous it sends a small shiver down Levi’s spine.

Taryn and Casey’s eyes go bright. “That’s brilliant! Yes! I have a friend who is gay and might I say pretty attractive at Swedish Hospital who I could ask to get in on this” Casey is already saying, talking with his hands like he does when he gets excited about something.

“Guys, I don’t know if this is such a good idea. I don’t think this is going to do anything. I just want to move on. “ Levi says, unsure of himself. How could they be so sure this was a good idea.

“Levi, what’s the worse that could happen? If nothing happens then move on but, but if this actually works, maybe Nico will realize how much he likes you.” Dahlia encourages him.

Sighing, and seeing how excited his friends are about this he nods his head “Fine, okay. Lets do it.” And the first time in what feels like forever, he feels a small smile come onto his face.

“Okay! Here is the plan. Taryn, you switch with Levi and it’s your job to casually bring it up to Link and Nico that Levi has a date this Friday.

“Wait! How the hell am I supposed to drop that in a conversation?! Oh yeah, I scheduled the OR and by the way Levi has a date on Friday. “ she give her an incredulous look.

“Fine you have a point…” she says, and again is lost deep in thought on how they could make this work.

“I have an idea” Casey says, “okay what if at one point during the day I come up to Taryn while she is near Nico and Link and update her on something…say some lab work or whatever comes up and as I’m walking away I can ask her if we are all still on for drinks on Friday and you can casually say that we have to reschedule because Schmitt has a date?” 

“You’re a genius!” Dahlia exclaims. “Yes, yes this could work perfectly. Taryn, just text the group chat when you are in a position where Casey can come up to you. And remember to all check your phones often! I want updates!” she says, smile brightly, ready for this plan to come alive. 

Levi is to say the least, impressed by how quickly they all grouped together to formulate a plan that might actually work out in their favor. His eyes are watering but for a different reason this time, he is so happy to have friends that have his back so quickly and without question.

“Levi? Are you okay?” Taryn is the first to sense his shift in mood.

“I’m good. I’m just so happy to have friends like you. Thank you for all backing me up so quickly and for not judging me for liking Nico and for not telling you about it.“ he says, lightly sniffling.  
They all look at each other, and pile into a group hug, surrounding Levi.

“We would never judge you for liking someone of the same sex.” Casey points out.

“Okay, now that we’ve wasted five minutes, all our attendings are probably wondering where the hell we are so we should probably go. Don’t forget to check the phones!!” Dahlia states before running out the door, ready to find Dr. Pierce, her work there was finished.

\---------

Taryn is a little nervous for this plan to go down. It heavily relied on her and Casey’s performance to pull this off. She shakes off her nerves, and goes down the hall in attempt to find Dr. Link and Dr. Kim.  
She was going to have to use most of her strength to not pummel Nico’s face for hurting one of her best friends. She honestly still can’t believe he did that.

She spots them both at the nurse’s station down the hall and walks towards them.

Link and Nico look at her expectedly. “Can I help you with something?” Link is the first to speak.

“Oh right. I’m on your service” she says confidently. She does not miss the look of confusion on both of their faces. Slowly she registers the look of guilty also etched on Nico’s face.

“Oh- I thought that Schmitt was with us today. “ Link replies.

“We switched. I owe him one and he really wanted to scrub in on Grey’s surgery today so here I am. “ She lies smoothly, proud of herself for being able to do so.

“Alright well I don’t have time to catch you up to speed on today’s surgery-“ 

“No worries, Levi filled me in this morning.” She says.

“Okay well with that settled lets get started” Link smiles charmingly at her. Maybe this switch with Levi won’t be too bad after all.

Nico is still giving her a funny look, she knows that he doesn’t believe her that Levi and her happened to switch services the day after the situation happened. Nico can’t help but feel immensely guilty again for hurting Levi.

\-------- 

Taryn had spent most of her morning stuck in surgery so their plan couldn’t proceed. The surgery had finally come to a close and she was standing around with Link and Nico reviewing the chart.

As subtly as she can manage, she sneaks out her phone and texts the group chat.

[Helm]  
Casey! Lets do this!! We are on the third floor, near room 3052

[Parker]  
On it. 

[Levi]  
Good luck!

Taryn quickly puts her phone away before either of the guys can suspect what was happening. She busies herself by charting, waiting for Parker to come and get the plan started.  
As quickly as she started she hears Parker come up on her left.

“Hey Helm, Webber wanted me to remind you and the other interns that we have the intern meeting later tonight.” Casey says smoothly.

“Right, I almost forgot about that. Thanks!” she shoots him a casual smile and Casey beings to retreat.

“Oh yeah, I was going to ask you, is everyone still on for drinks on Friday?” he says, trying to keep his cool.

“I don’t think so. Qadri said she has to have dinner with her parents and Levi said he has a date.” She smoothly lets out, trying to take a peek at Nico. He was trying to play it off like he wasn’t listening to the interns conversation but as soon as Helm mentioned Levi, his eyebrows crinkle and he has a small look of disappointment on his face. Even Link looks surprised by the Levi comment.

“Oh okay” Casey replies and retreats around the corner. He smiles to himself, that couldn’t have gone better.

Taryn internally jumps up and down. She saw first hand that what Casey had said about Levi affected Nico. Maybe this plan was working after all!

Quickly she excuses herself to the bathroom and goes around the corner. She stops suddenly, hearing Levi’s name being brought up.

“Did Parker just say that Schmitt has a date on Friday or am I hallucinating?” Link asks Nico.

“No. You definitely heard him correctly” he replies, letting out a small sigh and grumbles something that Taryn can’t pick up.

Taryn runs ahead before either of them realize she heard what they said.

[Helm]  
It worked!! Link and Nico both heard and as soon as Nico heard it, he actually looked a bit distraught”

[Dahlia]  
WOOHOO NICE WORK TEAM! On to stage two of operation “make Nico jealous”

[Parker]  
That’s a lame operation name, I want something better.

[Helm]  
Operation “make Nico realize he’s a jackass”?

[Parker]  
Better- I’ll take it. Oh by the way I heard back from the boy from Swedish Medical Center- he said he’s down!

[Levi]  
Woohoo let’s kick some ass.

[Dahlia]  
That’s the spirit! 

At opposite sides of the hospital, they are all smiling to themselves, ready to continue this plan of action.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the reason why i decided to name this fic "flicker" is because that is the album (by niall) that i have been listening on repeat while writing this fic. 10/10 would recommend for you all to listen to it while reading (especially paper houses and flicker)


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> poor nico is getting jealous

Thankfully for Levi, the next day he was not placed on ortho. He’s convinced that Dr. Bailey feels him sending off ‘do not put me on ortho’ vibes because he is very much sending them out.

Today he’s on Grey’s service again and he couldn’t be happier. General was one of his top specialty choices. Though Meredith was intimidating, he was happy she was such a great teacher.

Levi and Nico have yet to speak after the elevator incident that happened a few days ago. Their paths had barley crossed and truth be told Levi was happy and sad about it. He missed Nico constantly checking in on him, and their small exchanges of words as they passed each other in the hallway. It seems like so long ago and Levi can’t help but miss it. Yes, he was still upset about Nico’s brutal rejection but he couldn’t help what he was feeling.

Two days ago, Casey gave Levi the boy from Swedish Hospital’s number and they spent most of the day texting back and forth.

So far all Levi knew was that his name is Seth, he was a 2nd year medical resident hoping to specialize in neuro, and has known he was gay for as long as he could remember. This is something Levi admired greatly about him. That he was able to so easily pick out his feelings and accept himself was amazing and a lot of people weren’t able to do it. Levi himself admits he was never in denial but it did take him a little longer than most to figure it all out.

[Seth]  
How’s your day going so far?

Levi smiles at the message he received. Its been mostly friendly, get to know you questions since getting each other’s number. He is shy to admit but yesterday he may or may not have facebook searched Seth and he has to say, Seth is very attractive. In his pictures, he appears tall , dark, and handsome which Levi is realizing may or may not be his type.

Before Levi can reply to the message he hears Meredith calling out his name.

“Bloodbank. Pay attention and put your phone away” she scolds him, like a mother talking to their child. He supposes he deserves that and does as told, not wanting to get more on Grey’s bad side. He doesn’t think she will ever forget that time his glasses fell into an open body cavity and neither will he. He wants to, no, needs to prove to her that he is a capable surgeon.

Levi’s pager on his side starts beeping, along with Grey’s to notify them of a trauma in the pit that needs their immediate attention.

They both look at each other before taking off in a run towards trauma room 3. Once they enter, the room is full of organized chaos. A 40 year old male came in due to a MVC and had multiple fractures evident. It has been a little while since Levi saw so many broken bones scattered all over the body.

“Someone page ortho!” Grey shouts and begins to examine the patient with an ultrasound machine. “There is free fluid in the abdomen, I’m certain it’s blood. We need to get him to the OR now! Page ortho to meet us there and we can work on him simultaneously” Levi is too focused right now to even begin to worry that this means he will finally be crossing paths with Nico Kim.

They reach the OR in record time and as him and Grey are scrubbing in, in enters Link followed by Nico.

“Alright, what do we got?” 

Levi looks at Nico, shakes head and redirects his attention to Link.

“40 year old male, multiple crush injuries following an MVC. Free fluid was spotted in the abdomen upon ultrasound…” he continues and once he is finished, he and Grey enter the room and begin to get to work.

The surgery was complicated, but Grey did not let this stop her from using this as a learning opportunity for Levi. Once the patient was stabilized, the room lets out a collective sigh of relief. 

Link and Nico were working on the lower extremities when Dr. Link speaks up.

“I’m having a house warming party tomorrow and I want you to come.” He says, looking at Meredith and shifting his eyes towards Levi.

Levi doesn’t think much of it because there was no way an attending was actually inviting him over to his house for a party, he was pretty sure he was only speaking to Meredith in this moment.

“Sure. What time?” Meredith asks casually.

“8, and you can both bring a plus one if you want” he says.

“Wait- both of us? What?” Levi can’t help but blurt out, as he was extremely confused at this. Even Nico was giving Link a strange look. Attendings didn’t tend to hang out with the interns outside of work, their two worlds were separate out there. 

“Yeah- Schmitt you’re invited, the more the merrier is my saying in life.”

“Hm” Levi hums in reply. This day was getting stranger and stranger. There was no was he was actually going to go this event, especially if it meant that Nico would be there.

\-----------

The interns are gathered in the locker room at the end of their shift.

“Did Link invite you guys to his house tomorrow? For some kind of house warming party?” Levi asks the other three.

“Oh yeah! He mentioned it when I was on his service after I had switched with you. He said we were all invited and were welcome to bring a plus one.” Taryn replies.

“Doesn’t that strike you as a little strange? That an attending is inviting some interns over to his house for a party? There’s no way I am going.” Levi states as a matter of fact.

Dahlia’s eyes go wide. 

“Wait- if this is Link’s party that means mostly likely Nico is going to be there, right? “

“Uh yeah…where are you going with this?”

“This is the perfect opportunity to bring Seth and make Nico jealous! He doesn’t need to know you guys haven’t actually been on the date like you said. This is the perfect place to really piss him off.” Dahlia says, eyes bright and full of mischief. “And we will all be there to back you up.”

Taryn and Casey grin at her for the evil genius that she is.

“That’s honestly… pretty brilliant” Casey is nodding his head in approval, “and this way, Levi, you can finally meet Seth! I promise you, you guys are going to get along so well.”

Levi hesitates, again he is doubting this is a good idea. If all goes wrong, or a scene is made, it will happen in front of most of the attendings. Everyone will look at him and know his business. He isn’t sure if he is ready for this kind of commitment. And though he won’t admit it to the other interns, he is a bit nervous to go out with Seth. Even though this technically isn’t a real date, it would be his first date with a guy and he never thought that he would have to have an audience for this, it makes him more nervous.

The other three are looking at him expectedly and Levi knows that he is going to give in to their pleads eventually so he might as well just say yes.

“Fine. I’ll text Seth and ask he if he’s even free.”

“Oooh so you guys are texting?” Taryn says, wiggling her eyebrows up and down at him.

Levi giggles, “It’s not like that. We are just getting to know each other so it doesn’t seem like we are strangers when we meet.”

It was almost like Seth knew they were talking about him because Levi’s phone chimes at that exact moment. 

[Seth]  
Hey, I was wondering if you wanted to go grab drinks tonight? That way we can get to know each other better and talk about the plan.

“Guys- Seth just texted and asked me if I want to go get drinks with him tonight.” Levi says, going a little pale. He had already made plans with the other interns and they were getting ready to head over to Joe’s as they speak.

“YES! Invite him to have drinks with us! That way we can get to know him too!” Taryn says, excitement on her face.

Casey and Dahlia shrug, “yeah I think that’s a good idea. We can come up with a plan for tomorrow so you guys are better prepared.” She says.

[Levi]  
Dahlia, Casey, Taryn, and I were already heading over to the bar across from the hospital if you wanted to join us?

Not even a second later his phone chimes again, 

[Seth]  
Sure, see you there soon.

“Oh shit- he actually agreed. I can’t believe I’m going to meet him in a few moments.” Levi frantically beings messing around with his hair, trying to make it a little more presentable.

The three of them exchange looks and burst of laughing.

“Schmitt, relax, its going to be fine. Just remind yourself this isn’t a real date and just take a deep breath.” Weirdly enough this calms him almost immediately. They were right, this wasn’t a real date. He doesn’t actually want to date Seth, he was there to make Nico jealous. He didn’t need to be worrying right now.

“You’re right… let’s just go okay?” and the four of them all put on their coats and start towards the main hospital doors.

Once they reach Joe’s a minute later, they notice Nico and Link already there at the bar, waiting to order drinks.

Nico looks over and makes eye contact with Levi, neither of them wanting to pull away. Finally, Levi looks away as Taryn calls out to him, notifying him that they found a table.

“Guys- Nico is here. I guess operation “make Nico realize he’s a jackass” starts now!” Levi says, both excited and nervous. 

They settle in, ordering a round of beers and start their light chatter. The bell above the front entrance rings and in walks a man who looks slightly familiar to Levi although he can’t quite place why.  
Casey and the guy make eye contact, and he smiles, striding over to him.

“Seth! You made it!” Casey exclaims, rising up to greet him in a hug. Oh crap, I guess Levi is meeting him now, and his palms go sweaty.

“Hi, I’m guessing you’re Levi?” Seth asks, sending him a smile and wow, that smile kind of blew Levi away. Seth was even cuter in person but Levi could not focus on this right now.

“That’s me” he says smiling and before he knows it, Seth is drawing him in for a hug. He smells great and is warm despite the 35 degrees it was outside. Looking up cross his shoulder, Levi makes eye contact with Nico for the second time that night and Nico looks a bit mad. His eyes are dark than normal and his eyebrows are crinkled in confusion. 

Levi couldn’t read into this right now. He has to bring Seth up to speed on their plan for tomorrow.

Seth has already greeted the other two, and they are all chattering excitedly among themselves.

“So, lets talk about tomorrow” Dahlia is first to get them focused on business, reminding them why they were all there.

“Link invited Levi and us to his house warming party tomorrow and said we could bring a plus one. So you’re coming, as Levi’s date.” Seth is nodding along in agreement, unopposed.  
“Basically, its your job to be flirty in front of Nico to piss him off” she says.

Seth nudges Levi with his elbow and leans down to whisper in his ear, “so which one is he? I know he’s in here from the way you are sat so tense” Levi smiles at him, applauding him silently for being so observant. 

“To your left, across the bar near the dart board. He’s the tall one wearing the striped grey long sleeve.” Levi says to him, hoping that Seth won’t make it too obvious.  
Seth waits a moment, and casually begins looking over the bar before his eyes settle on Nico. He whistles, “damn, I can see why you’re so caught up on him now. He’s hot.” Levi blushes. He isn’t sure why this makes him blush but his cheeks have a mind of their own.

Seth notices and giggles at him, “listen, I’m here to help. We are going to kick ass tomorrow. Now, to make this more believable…” he drifts off, laying his arm across Levi’s shoulders, bringing him closer to him. He smiles gently, “relax.” And Levi does that. He knows he needs to stop being so stiff and worried. Right now, he makes an agreement with himself that from here on out he was going to be more relaxed and whatever happens, happens.

Taryn giggles, looking at the two of them once she notices how close in proximity they were. “Guys-it’s already working. I happened to be looking over at Nico when Seth did that I saw him roll his eyes and visibly stiffen.” All of them exchange a glance of approval. This was going to work.

A few hours later, the interns are getting increasingly tired and decide to call it a night. All night, Levi and Seth have been talking and Levi really feels like he is starting to get to know Seth better now. The more he knew, the more comfortable he got around him and he didn’t mind for one bit when Seth’s arm stayed around him the entire night.

All of them get up and being walking towards the door, Levi last to get up after Seth. He feels his arm being grabbed and looks over his shoulder that it was Nico who was touching him. He inhales sharply.  
“Can I help you?” he asks him, a little stiffly.

“Uh- I just wanted to see if we could talk?” Nico asks, with a hopeful look on his face. 

Levi shakes his head, great this is not what he wanted right now. “Look, I came with friends so I have to go.” And points towards the front door where the rest of the group was watching them, waiting.  


Nico sighs, and lets his arm go. As Levi gets closer, Seth reaches out his hand and they link hands. Seth winks at him and whispers “I think its working.” As they walk out, all of them don’t miss the look of dejection on Nico’s face when he see’s Levi and Seth holding hands.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i love reading your comments and it definitely encourages me to update quicker so thank you for your nice words!


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> three updates in one day because im generous :)

For how well everything went last night, Levi was especially excited to see how tonight would play out. He could sense that Nico was jealous although he’s sure if anyone asked him about it, he would quickly deny it.

He’s so happy that he is day dreaming and by typical fashion, runs straight into a hard object. Its so hard that he is sure it is a wall but one second thought walls don’t move or speak.

“Watch where you’re going” Nico says gently. And Levi curses at himself inwardly, out of all the people or things he could run into, why is it Nico?!

“Sorry.” he quickly responds, wanting to make his escape as quickly as possible. He couldn’t help but have feelings of hurt and sadness come up every time he interacted or so much so as laid eyes on Nico.

“Actually, I’m glad to have bumped into you. I wanted to talk.” Nico says but Levi is shaking his head no.

“You said you all you had to say that day in the elevator. The message was received loud and clear” Levi says as a matter of factly. 

Nico sighs, he definitely deserved that. “I just want to talk. Are you going to be at Link’s party tonight?”

“Yes. But not for you. I gotta go.” Levi says and quickly walks away before Nico can say anything else. That interaction was beyond awkward and he just wanted to get out of there.

\--------- 

The shift was over soon and Levi was sitting in his car, next to Seth who was encouragingly looking at him and smiling. They were waiting for the other three interns to get there so they could all walk in together. 

The wind was picking up outside, and Levi was worried about a possible storm brewing overnight. This was the worrywart embedded in him.

“Hey- you nervous?” Seth softly asks him.

“A little….yeah. Actually, a lot.” He laughs shakily. Whatever happened tonight could really seal their fate. It could go poorly or really well and Levi was a tad worried to find out which it was going to be.

He hears another car pull in next to them and spots Taryn climbing out. Levi and Seth get out of the warm car to greet them.

“You ready?” Dahlia asks.

“As ready as we’ll ever be” Seth replies, and holds out his hand for Levi to grab onto. “Let’s make this count.”

They walk up to the front door together and admire how beautiful the house Link picked out was. It had an incredible view of the city and with it already being so dark out, the city lights were on clear display. They knock and wait patiently for the door to be answered.

“Hey! My favorite interns made it!” Link says, greeting them and motioning for them to come in.

“Would you guys like anything to drink?” He asks them politely. After grabbing their drink requests and coats, he leaves them for the kitchen where most of the crowd was gathered. 

Looking around, Levi recognizes a lot of the people there who were undoubtedly from the hospital. Sending over everyone friendly smiles he meets eyes with the one and only Nico Kim.

He is walking towards them, holding several drinks and begins to give them out, handing Levi his drink last. Their hands briefly brush against each other and it is hard to ignore the warmth that spreads through Levi’s body from that one little touch. Ignoring it, he politely thanks Nico before pulling Seth towards the couches where other people were gathered.

Nico again notices how close Seth and Levi were to one another and curses slightly under his breath, annoyed at the scene before him. He returns to the kitchen where he didn’t have to look at them.  
The interns begin a card game and Nico comes up to them, “mind if I join?” 

Taryn who is too nice to reject anyone says, “sure thing. Have a seat.” This could not be more awkward but Dahlia gives Levi and Seth a pointed look. This was their time to shine. 

“I don’t think I’ve meet you before, I’m Seth” he says, holding out his hand for Nico to shake. He does so tensely and eyes Seth up and down.

“Nico.” he blatantly says. “So, how do you and Levi know each other?” he asks, as his eyes flicker down to where Seth’s other hand was resting on Levi’s thigh comfortably. Levi can’t help but nervously shift his eyes back and forth between the two men who looked like this wanted to strangle each other.

“Oh- Casey introduced us actually. Casey and I are long time friends and when he told me about Levi, and I had to know more about him” he says, and smiles lovingly at Levi. Damn, if Seth wasn’t going into medicine he was sure he would have plenty of acting jobs lined up.

“Hm. Where do you work?” Nico says, unimpressed.

“I’m a second year resident at Swedish Medical Center.” He sees this throws Nico off a little.

“I applied there. Decided to go to Grey Sloan” Nico replies casually, unsure of what else he is supposed to say. 

He turns his attention to the card game before him as Casey deals out cards and tells them the rules.

About an hour later, most of them had lost the game and it was a tie between Nico and Seth for being the winner. Levi could see how desperately Nico wanted to win this game, as though it was prove something. He isn’t sure what but he knows Nico was competitive in nature.

They all watch as Seth puts down his final card. It is all on Nico know to either win or lose. As he reveals his final card he wins, and whoops loudly.

All of them applaud and laugh at how excited Nico was to win. Levi couldn’t help but feel an attraction towards this. He has never really seen Nico have his guard down, laughing and having fun. Usually they interacted at work where he tended to be a little more serious. He really liked this side of Nico and wish he could see more of it.

Seth shakes his hand, “you did well.” And laughs as Nico smiles at him. Levi is a bit disappointed that Nico isn’t acting as jealous as he had hoped and excuses himself to go to the bathroom.  
Once he gets out, he hears some shuffling around the corner and Nico pops out.

“Look, can we please talk? Outside maybe?” and Nico looks at him so pleadingly that Levi agrees.

He grabs his coat and follows Nico outside, to the side of the house. The wind was picking up and was a lot stronger than when they first got here a couple of hours ago.  
“What did you want to talk about?” Levi asks, turning to Nico.

“I wanted to apologize for the elevator incident. I shouldn’t have reacted that way.” He begins and Levi is shocked that Nico is saying sorry to him.

“Okay.” He replies. What else is he supposed to say.

“I just can’t believe you’re with that guy” he says, and gestures towards to house. 

“Who? Seth?” Levi asks a little surprised he’s brining him up. “Nico, why do you even care?!?” He says, growing more and more frustrated. Nico made it known that he did not want Levi. So why is it suddenly a big deal to him that he is “dating” another man. Levi didn’t owe him anything!

“I just- I can’t believe that you’re dating him. That you’re dating that…”

“What the hell? Why do you even care? You made it known that you don’t’ want me. That I wasn’t good enough for you. So why does it matter to you who I date?” Levi almost yells, so frustrated but not wanting anyone else to hear.

“I didn’t say- I didn’t mean-“ but Levi cuts him off. 

“No. You have no right to tell me who I can and can’t date, especially after you rejected me. I liked you Nico. “ Levi admits, “but after you did that…” he shakes his head, “just leave me alone Nico.” and starts to turn away from him.

Nico grabs his arm.

“Please- just let me explain.” He says.

“EXPLAIN WHAT?! Explain how you can’t “teach me” explain that you can’t date me because I don’t have enough experience for you?! Why should I give you the time of day when you wouldn’t do the same for me that day in the elevator?!?” Levi is shouting, he is done bottling this all up. He wants, no needs Nico to know how much he hurt him. 

Nico is silent, startled by what Levi said. And he knows he’s right. He knows he messed up, and hurt Levi. He looks at Levi and hates himself for bringing hurt onto Levi, who doesn’t deserve it. He can’t stand to look at Levi, who is on the verge of tears in front of him because it hurts him too much.

“I’m sorry.” He starts to say but Levi is already walking away back to the house.

Nico knows he needs to make it up to Levi somehow but doesn’t know how. 

As Levi makes his way inside, he beelines towards Seth.

His cheeks are red, and eyes are watery. “Hey- can we go please?” He says, and with one look Seth knows that something is wrong and immediately rushes over to grab his jacket. 

“Sure, are you okay?!” he asks, stopping Levi and swiveling him so they are making eye contact. Levi looks at him with watery eyes and shakes his head no. This is all Seth needs to pull him into a hug and rub his arm up and down his back in a feeble attempt to comfort him.

The interns are looking at Levi, worried about what could have happened between then and his bathroom trip. 

Levi untangles him out of Seth’s arms, and grabs his hand, tugging him forward towards the front door, waving goodbye to the interns. He knows he will see them tomorrow and explain then.   


Seth and Levi spend the entire car right in silence. Seth isn’t sure what he can say to make Levi feel better in this moment but keeps their hands linked, soothingly rubbing circles into Levi’s palm.  
As they pull up to Seth’s front door Levi turns to him.

“Are you okay?” Seth asks him again for the second time. He knows Levi isn’t okay but he doesn’t know what else to say.

“I can’t do this” Levi whispers to Seth. “I can’t pull you along in this, you’re a great guy who doesn’t deserve a crying mess like me” he says laughing lightly at the situation he finds himself in “thank you for being so willing to help with this whole Nico thing but I think I just need to forget this whole making him jealous thing and really focus on moving on from it.”

Seth nods understandingly. “I get it, and I wish you the best of luck in getting over him. If you ever need to talk or anything I’m a phone call away.” He says, and reaches across so pull Levi into a final hug.  


He gets out of the car, and waves goodbye, sad to see Levi go. He could have seen himself building an actual relationship with him but he knew he couldn’t because Levi was still far too caught up in Nico to give him a second glance.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry for not updating in a few days! winter break demands me to spend time with my family when all i want to do is write. stay tuned for the next chapter, it will be a juicy one.

Levi was curled up in his bed, with a blanket wrapped so tightly around him that all that could be seen was his mop of hair and half of his forehead. He too didn’t know exactly he was managing to breathe right now.

He couldn’t stop himself from thinking about what a disaster that evening was but he knew he did the right thing. He could see the small twinkle in Seth’s eyes that he liked him more than he was letting on and Levi knew he couldn’t bear to do that to a person. He knew that he was still very much hung up on Nico Kim and his stupid gorgeous face. He doesn’t understand what came over him. Its like he kept getting hurt and the one small logical part of his brain was telling him it was enough but everything else pulled him in towards Nico. If Levi believed in soul mates he would say that maybe Nico Kim was who he was meant to end up with, who was meant to “re-awaken” him and help him realize who he was and that someone was a gay and proud scrawny intern.

Levi couldn’t help but continue to think about the conversation he had with Nico. He knew he was being an ass by yelling at Nico but hell, he deserved it. He wouldn’t admit that he was really dying to know what Nico was trying to tell him that night. He was too stubborn to admit that maybe he should just hear Nico out.

The weather outside was even worse than it was earlier this morning. He could hear the tree branches knocking against the window of his studio apartment and every once in a while a loud bang was heard that made him jump, and cuddle further into his blanket cocoon. His lights kept flickering and Levi was sure his lights were about to go out any second.

It’s almost as though the universe decided to play a cruel joke on his because as soon as the thought enter, the action happened. The lights shut off at the exact time his phone began ringing.

He groans, wondering who the hell it could be. Levi knew that he wasn’t working until the day after tomorrow so he wasn’t sure why he saw the hospital’s number was flashing on his screen.

“Hello?”

“Schmitt, I need you here immediately. We’re calling in everyone we can. This wind is bringing in a lot of patient and we need all the hands we can get.” Dr. Bailey says in his ear.

Sighing to himself quietly, “my power just went out so I might as well make myself useful. Be there in 15 minutes.” He says.

“And be careful on the road! I don’t need you to come in as a patient too” Bailey said firmly and hung up before Levi could get in another word in.

Great, it was his day/night off and here he was going to the hospital anyway.

\----------- 

Levi arrives at the hospital 30 minutes later, his commute doubled due to all the traffic lights being out. He enters the ED and see’s it a zoo. He couldn’t quite remember the last time he saw this many patient’s in there. There were beds lining the wall, any space they could be squeeze a bed in without creating a fire hazard.

“Schmitt! Finally! I need you to go to trauma room 5 and help Dr.Hunt. Now!” Dr Bailey orders him as soon as she lays eyes on him.

Levi enters and see’s Nico at the bedside of the patient, with Link standing near him. 

“Schmitt, I didn’t know you were on call tonight” Hunt addresses him. Nico is staring at him, eyes curious too.

“I’m not. I was called in.” he says, and shuffles from leg to leg trying to distract himself from the heavy gaze of Nico’s.

“Great. Well I need your help rolling the patient on his side so I can exam his back. A tree fell on top of his car while he was driving from the wind” Hunt tells him, eyes sparking. He clearly lived for stuff like this. He was a trauma surgeon after all. 

“On my count. 1, 2, 3” Hunt calls and together they roll the patient to their right side. Nico is still burning a hole on the side of his head. Levi can’t take it.

“What?!” He says, whipping around to face Nico who is as startled as Levi is at his own little outburst. 

He coughs and mutters something to Link before leaving the room.

“Uh, what was that about?” Hunt asks him. Everyone in the room is looking at Levi likes he’s grown three heads.

“Nothing.” He replies quickly. He definitely wasn’t about to discuss this with Owen Hunt of all people, in the middle of a trauma.

“Okay well his c-spine is clear. Let’s get him out of here, he doesn’t need an OR right now. You can go Schmitt, I got this.” Hunt dismisses him.

Great, so far he’s been here for 5 minutes and has managed to get kicked off a case.

He walks out of the room, throwing his gloves off, already feeling a little defeated. 

“Schmitt” he hears the family voice again, Dr. Bailey. “I need you to go down to the clinic. There are a few non critical patient’s in there that you can clear out.” 

“Yes Dr. Bailey” he says, a little relieved to be getting out of the hectic ED and into something a little more manageable.

As he makes his way across the bridge to the clinic the wind is whipping his lab coat back and forth. The wind is almost strong to knock him off his feet but he manages to make it. 

The clinic had 3 patients in it as it wasn’t technically open. He begins reading through the charts and finds that two of the three are two quick laceration repairs that he could preform in his sleep. The third one he wasn’t so sure about. His lab work came back in and it wasn’t looking great. Since he was there with a resident he figured that they could take care of it and got to work on the laceration repairs.

An hour and a few sutures later Levi was ready to head back to ED when the resident comes up to him at his side.

“Hey, I just got paged down to the ED. Could you stay here and take care of the kid? I think he might have a SBO. You just need to take him upstairs, there’s a room waiting at peds.” 

‘Darn’ he thought to himself. He really wasn’t looking forward to dealing with this but he couldn’t exactly say no. “Sure.”

He sighs and looks at the lab work again to make sure he didn’t miss anything obvious. He hears the doors open and a rush of wind enter. 

“Hey Bailey told me to check on you. I heard you have a possible SBO. Do you want me to take the patient upstairs?” Nico asks. Great, how did they manage to continually bump into each other in this giant ass hospital?

“No.” he says a little more forced and aggressive than he was expecting. “I can do it."

“Look. Are you sure? I have more experiences with SBO’s and his lab work looks like crap. If anything goes wrong I could better handle it” Nico says and this sets something off in Levi. How dare he think he wasn’t capable of transferring a patient upstairs for crying out loud.

“No. I know you have more experience but I said I can do it” he says the word experience forcefully, implying that they both knew he wasn’t talking about experiences with small bowel obstructions, eyebrow raised.

Nico raises his hands in surrender. “Okay fine.”

Levi begins to make his way upstairs with the kid who is sleeping soundly despite the intermittent jostling of the bed. After he dropped off the kid with the nurse and signed the needed paperwork he figured it would be best to go wait out the storm and finish charting while he had the chance.

Levi enters the clinic, expecting it to be empty and Nico is still on the ground near the desk station, fiddling with the tablet.

“What are you still doing here?” Levi asks, confused.

“Just wanted to make sure you got back alright.” Again, for some reason this irritates Levi just slightly but enough to set him over the edge.

“You don’t need to take care of me! I’m capable of transporting a patient upstairs by myself!” he bursts, voice loud and echoing across the walls.

Nico is shocked, “I can’t get into this now. This is exactly what I didn’t want. I don’t need the drama, the hurt feelings, the freshly coming out, I don’t need the shame spiral. I’ve been through it once before and I can’t do it again. I like you but I can’t guide you out of the closet like some gay Sherpa, okay? I’m going back to the ED.” He says, shaking his head at Levi.

“Wait” Levi says, baffled by the words coming out of Nico’s mouth, “I’m not the drama. You’re the drama. You’re also clueless if you think It’s safe to cross the ambulance bay right now. Ever heard of the venturi effect, Mr I’m so experienced?! It means that winds speeds can easily double between two buildings creating a tunnel. There’s a reason they call pacific northwest wind storms big blows. This! This is an extra big blow!!” He says raises his voice higher and higher. Levi realizes he’s being a little childish right now but he cannot believe that Nico about to go outside right now, potentially putting himself in danger. These little frustrations keep building and building and Levi feels like he soon will erupt. 

Nico shakes his head at “See, I can’t even touch that. “ and swivels around to head towards the exit.

“At least stay close to the ground!” Levi yells after him. ‘What a clueless idiot’ he thinks.

Nico is too stubborn to listen to any kind of advice and heads straight out the front doors. The wind is whistling now, Levi hears the rustle of objects being picked up and thrown down. Nico steps a foot out the door and the last thing Levi sees is blur of white, from Nico’s jacket, and Nico falling to the ground, being swept away.

“Oh crap, oh crap. NICO!” He screams. Against his better judgment he rushes to the door to see if he can see Nico anywhere. He sees him laying on the ground, clutching the side of his forehead.  
“You idiot” he mutters to himself and ducks to the ground. There was no way the wind was defeating him too and army crawls towards where Nico lays.

He manages to stand both of them up, still crouching, fighting to maintain balance against the gusts and hooks his arm under Nico’s shoulder, dragging him blindly to an ambulance he sees not too far from where they were.

“Are you okay?!” he fights to be heard in the wind but its no use. They get to the ambulance door and Levi has to use all of his strength to rip open the door and usher Nico inside before following, hearing the door shut loudly, rattling the entire ambulance.

“Holy shit. That did not just happen. Are you okay!?” even though this was 100% Nico’s fault because he was being stubborn Levi was worried about him and notices the growing area of swelling across Nico’s right side of the forehead.

“Woah.” Is all Nico can say. He was still a little dazed as to what just happened.

Levi scoffs, “you’re welcome.” He replies and begins to rummage around, trying to find any sort of ice pack to apply to the area. He was having greater difficulty than normal as he managed to lose his glasses. He finally grabs something that feels similar to an ice pack and grins to himself in victory when he bursts it open and feels the coolness spread in his hand.

He gives it to Nico, “for your face… There’s some swelling” he gestures to the area that Nico is currently clutching. 

“Thanks. Hey, what happened to your glasses?” he asks, wincing as he presses the ice pack to his face.

“The band snapped when we were climbing into the rig” he replies, quite annoyed about losing his favorite pair of glasses. He only had an ugly pair in his locker he refused to wear as a back up so he was officially screwed. 

“Can you see?”

Levi scoffs and rolls his eyes, feeling the frustration bubble up a bit higher, “yes I can see, just not perfectly. They are probably somewhere out there, broken on the ground thanks to you!”

Nico sighs heavily, “are you done?”

“Yes.” He hesitates, this was his one chance to let it all out, and it was dying to escape, the words were bubbling up from his throat. “You know what? No. No I am not done! You know what else is your fault? The fact that you broke my heart. You think that I have some sort of shame spiral when I don’t. I don’t NEED you to be my ‘gay Sherpa’! I’m not ashamed of who I am. I am a nerd! I am no more ashamed of being attracted to guys than I am of anything else in my life. Do you know what I did almost every night before going to college? I sat in my mom’s basement with other nerds playing dungeons and dragons. Trust me when I say no one was having sex. Guys or girls. Sex was like…. Sex was like the sun sword. It’s a magical weapon in the game that’s really hard to find. Nevermind, the point is that sex wasn’t on the table for us. So I didn’t know I was gay. I knew that I had feelings for guys but I didn’t understand. Every moment I had with a female felt forced and “meh” at most. Not until you winked at me. Not until you started working here and giving me all these…signals. And when you kissed me, I felt the opposite of shame. I felt like I mattered. Like I existed, I was being seen by someone for once instead of fading into the background. Everything fell into place. For the first time I felt like I was holding the sun sword and I-“ Levi was tearing up. Everything was rushing out of him and he couldn’t stop himself. He’s being holding it in for so long. “I-“ but Nico launches himself at Levi and their lips meet for a second time and Levi is sure he is in heaven again.

“Are you- are – are you just kissing me to get my to get me to stop talking?” Levi manages to babble out.

“No” Nico breaths out and pulls Levi by his lab coat to crash their lips together again.


End file.
